A capybara family bask in the sun in Brazil's Pantanal region. Capybaras are closely related to guinea pigs but weigh at about 55kg and grow up to a metre long. Pantanal wetland is as big as the UK, spread over 195,000 sq km across Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay. Photograph: Paul Williams/R

Macroscelides micus is a new elephant shrew species discovered in west Africa desert. It resembles a long-nosed mouse but is more closely genetically related to elephants and inhabits ancient volcanic formation in Namibia. It weighs 28 grams and is 7.5 inches long, with red fur that helps it blend in with the rocks. Photograph: Reuters

A mantis shrimp's underwater vision is superior to humans. It can see ultra violet colours. The shrimp's bulging eyes contain natural filters made from a biological sunscreen that shield against UV rays, a feature found in most marine animals. Photograph: Michael Bok/PA

A lemonpeel angelfish (Centropyge flavissima), spotted at Henderson Island, is part of a unique marine ecosystem discovered by the National Geographic Pristine Seas expedition to the Pitcairn Islands. Photograph: courtesy of Enric Sala/NG/Pristine Seas

UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon sits in a tour van as he prepares to drive through the Nairobi national park after concluding his two-day official visit during which he addressed the first UN Environment Assembly in Kenya's capital Nairobi. Photograph: Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo

A bird flies over an Arctic snowy owl in Barrow, Alaska. Explore.org's high-definition camera trained on a burrow in the field is allowing researchers and bird lovers unfettered view of the snowy owl's nesting den. Photograph: Tiffany Sears/AP

Wild poppies bloom at Blackstone Farm Fields, managed by Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, in Bewdley, UK. As the centenary of first world war approaches on 4 August, the popular Flanders Poppy will be at the centre of attention as the iconic symbol of remembrance blooms across Europe. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

An emperor penguin in New Zealand, some 1,900 miles from its Antarctic home. Global warming will send Antarctica's emperor penguins into decline by 2100, scientists predict in a study. It calls for the emblematic birds to be listed as endangered and their habitat better protected Photograph : Richard Gill/AFP/Getty Images

A great white shark swims near the surface in Mossel Bay, South Africa. Great white sharks often poke their heads above the surface to survey the waters. In Western Australia they face a cull, a move campaigners say will damage the ocean ecology. Photograph: Dale Morris/Barcroft Media

A pollinating moth Manduca sexta, feeds from a sacred datura (datura wrightii) flower while flying through a wind tunnel at the University of Washington in Seattle. The moths, whose olfactory abilities are as good as a bloodhound's, can fly up to 80 miles a night searching for their favorite flowers. Photograph: Kiley Riffell/Handout/Reuters

Tourists look at empty docks once home to sea lions that disappeared from Pier 39 in San Francisco, California, US. The city's famous colony of sea lions disappeared once before in 2009. Like then, hundreds of sea lions vanished in a day without a trace. Scientists believe they are headed south to breed. Photograph: John G. Mabanglo/EPA